After that one, shock-induced, quip, Auggie turned serious. Using what Annie had come to think of as his mission voice, he asked: "Ok tell me about this guy. Wait, stop staring back at him. Come here." He pulled her against his side and turned her so that his body shielded her from most of the room. Annie noted, in the one calm portion of her brain, that he didn't remove the arm around her waist or the hand stroking her upper arm.

Who's he trying to soothe, himself or me?

"Annie?" He used the tone he normally took when she had just decided on some hair-brained, dangerous, scheme. In her head Annie referred to this as big-brother-disapproves-voice.

"He's shorter than me, maybe 5'5", dark complected. He doesn't have any discernable scars or outstanding features. Honestly I don't think I would have noticed him except that he's glaring at me."

"Any chance you are wrong on your ID?"

Her nose wrinkled in frustrated thought. "No. I can clearly see his face while he's talking to Ben and it was definitely in Sri Lanka."

"You're sure it was the first time you were with Mercer?"

She was quiet, thinking, trying to place the face. Auggie knew the routine and let her work. I wish I knew the exit routes and room layout. Nothing like going into an op blind- literally.

"That's it," she hissed, jolting Auggie from his thoughts. "That's the reason he's so recognizable. He was glaring at me then, too. It was definitely the first time we were in Sri Lanka. He made some remark about loose women."

He couldn't help it, the chuckle emerged from his chest before he could stop it. "Loose women?"

"Hush, you." She pinched the bicep of the arm he had wrapped around her.

"Oh for now, Walker, but blackmail material like that cannot go unexploited." He chuckled again. "Well if he only knows you as some beach floozy hanging on Mercer, he cannot very well blow your cover. For all he knows I'm yet another rich American you are seducing." All he got for that remark was an authentic Annie Walker snort of derision. "What's of top concern right now is why a street vendor – who may or may not be one of Mercer's network- is at a D.C. arts gala."

She slipped out of his protective hold and steered him toward the far side of the room. "Let's play this out. I can play the ditzy acquisitions gal if he approaches us. Just follow my lead."

"Ah the old "blonde leading the blind" protocol. Excellent."

It was her turn to laugh, although hers came out more as a tense giggle than his hearty chuckle. She leaned her head against his upper arm. "Oh Auggie."

He reached over to pat the hand clutching his forearm. "There there, dear. Incidentally, this means you owe me another night out on the town so that I can troll for co-eds. There's no way you're leaving my side, now."

Before Annie could indignantly ask if she was his wing-man, a voice behind them stopped them both mid-step.

"I knew there was something different about you. Now I know why."

A/N: Ok this so short as to be insulting to refer to it as a "chapter", but I heard that line of dialogue in tonight's episode and the plot lines exploded in my brain. There's much more to come, but I HAVE to finish packing.